Super Bowl f-bomb may draw flag

Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco fired a few bombs to help beat the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, but by dropping the F-bomb on national TV during the Baltimore Ravens’ post-game celebration, he opened up CBS to a complaint at the Federal Communications Commission.

Text Size

-

+

reset

The Parents Television Council, which fights indecent speech on the airwaves, asked the commission to investigate CBS for its failure to bleep out the offensive word.

“No one should be surprised that a jubilant quarterback might use profane language while celebrating a career-defining win, but that is precisely the reason why CBS should have taken precautions,” PTC President Tim Winter said in a statement. “Joe Flacco’s use of the F-word, while understandable, does not absolve CBS of its legal obligation to prevent profane language from being broadcast — especially during something as uniquely pervasive as the Super Bowl.”

During Flacco’s celebration with teammate Marshal Yanda, the quarterback appears to say, “This is f—-ing awesome.” Someone in the scrum also says “holy sh—.”

Uttering both words on broadcast television can run afoul of the nation’s laws and the FCC rule governing indecent speech on the airwaves.

In 2004, Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” acted as a lightning rod for the issue and joined a string of complaints and court cases about just what the limits of propriety for foul language and offensive images broadcast over the nation’s airwaves are.

It’s unlikely that Flacco’s exuberant utterances will rise to the notoriety of that incident, but the FCC has fined broadcasters for similar utterances in the past.

Bono’s exclamation that “This is f—-ing brilliant” and utterances by Nicole Richie and Cher of the F-word and the S-word during awards shows in 2002 and 2003 led to changes in the FCC indecency rules.

Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the constitutional underpinnings of the FCC’s rules, but it did not overturn them. Instead, the court ruled 8-0 that the FCC’s policy ran afoul of due process by failing to give the networks fair notice that they had broken the rules. The commission has been attempting to figure out what to do about them since then.

Winter said the commission is taking too much time.

“Now nine years after the infamous Janet Jackson incident, the broadcast networks continue to have ‘malfunctions’ during the most-watched television event of the year, and enough is enough,” he said. “After more than four years of inaction on broadcast decency enforcement, the FCC must step up to its legal obligation to enforce the law, or families will continue to be blindsided.”